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I'm sorry but some of the folks responding to this thread have no idea what low lifes roam our streets. Whether these guys rode motorcycles, tricycles or roller blades they were violent people who reveled in intimidation. The SUV driver had one chance, identify what the situation was and get the hell out of there well before the pack set upon him. We have come to the point where you have to be situationally aware or you may pay for it with your life. Our county sheriff made a statement on TV that made national news. He said that his deputies could not protect everyone all the time. He advised people to arm themselves. If you wait for 911 stand by for a trip to the hospital or morgue. The NE USA populace don't understand that mentality. I have a concealed carry permit and in my state and most others, when that guy started smashing the window, I would have every right to shoot him. My pistol has 18 rounds and I carry two extra magazines. I'm quite certain these animals would start losing their pack mentality as they crawled over the bodies of their buddies.

I'm sorry but some of the folks responding to this thread have no idea what low lifes roam our streets. Whether these guys rode motorcycles, tricycles or roller blades they were violent people who reveled in intimidation. The SUV driver had one chance, identify what the situation was and get the hell out of there well before the pack set upon him. We have come to the point where you have to be situationally aware or you may pay for it with your life. Our county sheriff made a statement on TV that made national news. He said that his deputies could not protect everyone all the time. He advised people to arm themselves. If you wait for 911 stand by for a trip to the hospital or morgue. The NE USA populace don't understand that mentality. I have a concealed carry permit and in my state and most others, when that guy started smashing the window, I would have every right to shoot him. My pistol has 18 rounds and I carry two extra magazines. I'm quite certain these animals would start losing their pack mentality as they crawled over the bodies of their buddies.

I'm wondering, if the driver was armed and started shooting, if some of the LEO's in the crowd would have gone into action and started shooting back at the driver?

Taking a life is a serious matter, and should never be taken lightly. You will pay for that in many ways for many years. There is the phrase, win the battle and lose the war, it applies here.

I am very glad guns were not used in this situation. The would be many dead, not just injured, including most likely my SUV driver. I know people who carry all the time, and it seems to me that some of them take risks I would never take, carrying or not.

This became a no win scenario. All the prior convicted, no license, no insurance fools in this incident should be rounded up and put someplace where they can never drive again. The group is responsible for creating the situation where the one person was paralyzed. To blame the SUV driver is foolish, even if he flipped some one off to start this, the response was way out of proportion.

Cop.

The rider trying to smash the rear window of the SUV, while sh-t for brains was using his helmet on the front window was a cop. I say was because he was stripped of his gun and badge today, arrested, and now is in jail waiting his fate.
With all the media attention this is getting it will affect all of us as riders.
Mo

It MAY affect all riders in a positive way. Perhaps the cage drivers will pay a little more attention to us - but, to be honest, I haven't had a single motorist this riding season do anything mean or stupid near me. (Could be because most of my riding is rural - and of course, I live in Canada.) And I try not to do anything to incur their wrath - no loud pipes, tailgating, headlight modulator. I DO have extra front lighting, a brake light that flashes before going solid, a white full-face helmet, and a Rev'it suit that probably makes me look like the safety-conscious geek I am - but not an outlaw or squid. Not somebody to fear or hate.

I think most of us would agree that LARGE groups of motorcycles ARE something to fear and avoid. Doesn't matter if that's 30 Goldwing riders doing 10 under the speed limit, 30 Hell's Angels, a large group of Harley riders on a toy run, or a couple hundred squids out to prove something. GET OUT OF THE WAY AND DON'T MESS WITH THEM! And if they are doing something illegal, pull out that ubiquitous cell phone and call the cops. Maybe when this incident has run its course, that will prove more effective than it was for the SUV driver's wife.

What some are overlooking here is that there were multiple cops on the scene already. Some were undercover, some were riding with the group. None did anything but witness what happened. It's a black eye on the NYPD and a deserved one. In a city where lawful self-protection is a difficult if not impossible task, people depend on the police. The bad guys know this and with the hands off policy just encouraged them. Police officers in the crowd just adds insult to injury.

I'm sorry but some of the folks responding to this thread have no idea what low lifes roam our streets. Whether these guys rode motorcycles, tricycles or roller blades they were violent people who reveled in intimidation. The SUV driver had one chance, identify what the situation was and get the hell out of there well before the pack set upon him. We have come to the point where you have to be situationally aware or you may pay for it with your life. Our county sheriff made a statement on TV that made national news. He said that his deputies could not protect everyone all the time. He advised people to arm themselves. If you wait for 911 stand by for a trip to the hospital or morgue. The NE USA populace don't understand that mentality. I have a concealed carry permit and in my state and most others, when that guy started smashing the window, I would have every right to shoot him. My pistol has 18 rounds and I carry two extra magazines. I'm quite certain these animals would start losing their pack mentality as they crawled over the bodies of their buddies.

The only fault I find in your 'point of view' is that I'd recommend a third backup mag.

The rider trying to smash the rear window of the SUV, while sh-t for brains was using his helmet on the front window was a cop. I say was because he was stripped of his gun and badge today, arrested, and now is in jail waiting his fate.
With all the media attention this is getting it will affect all of us as riders.
Mo

Undercover cops are prohibited from engaging in unlawful activities, even to maintain their cover, unless their life is in danger (often a scenario in undercover drug operations).

The 'undercover officer' riding with this gang of idiots should not have joined in, and has earned the wrath of his department.

The others (cops) riding along picked the wrong kinds of buddies to hang with - they showed no better judgment.

So where do these riders come from? do they have a "club house" somewhere? Do the they hang out for a while, and then decide to go out and cause pandemonium in the streets? returning to said clubhouse and guffaw over their crazy antics? Pound a few beer, scribe some circles, don't get it. Heard on the news, could be wrong, that 1400 bikes were seized today? What's that about, if it's true. Is this a trend? Just asking as a big day for me is a fifty mile spin through the hay fields and then back to work.

I've read about this on two "motorcycle" forums. One thing I noticed is what I call a significant short coming of our society. We tend see things as black or white with little to no shades of grey. Peoples comments seem to be either 100% in condemning the motorcyclists or in condemning the SUV driver. I see both at fault.

On a side note: One thing I noticed that was not disclosed is that the driver's side view mirror on the SUV appears to be already damaged by the time the video starts. Chances are the altercation started before the start of the video.

This is one of my favorite quotes from a movie. It's from Men in Black.
"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." IMO, this sums up the attitudes of many of the motorcyclists on that video.

From what I read, the motorcyclists wanted to shut down the freeway to perform stunts. I'm sure they realized this would cause some panic among the drivers. So, when one rider went down, they should have kept their distance rather than driver put the driver into panic mode.

The guy fearing for his family, IMO, panicked and drove over the motorcyclist making the situation worse. The driver of the SUV made a poor choice and escalated the situation by running over an individual. This is something he will have to live with the rest of his life. Had the driver shown some concern for the downed rider, I doubt things would have escalated the way they did. Of course, this is all speculation and we'll never know for sure.

I also find the AMA response very one sided. From the AMA link: "The American Motorcyclist Association is troubled by the contents of a video that was taken of the incident -- both for the serious injuries caused by the SUV driver and for the actions of some motorcyclists who apparently decided to take the law into their own hands."

They talk about only the injuries caused to the rider, and downplayed the injuries caused to the driver and the threat to his family. I have a feeling that the driver of the SUV would have been beaten to death in front of his family if it wasn't for a concerned passerby.